News Of The Neighborhoods
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

Lawn Paving Nixed

City homeowners who pave over their front lawns to create parking spaces will now find themselves on the wrong side of the law, thanks to a new zoning rule passed by the City Council on April 30.

The new rule requires homeowners to maintain 20 to 50 percent of their front lawns as green spaces- more than 41,000 acres throughout the five boroughs.

The move is designed to improve the environment in places like Queens, where concrete lawns change neighborhood aesthetics and force runoff from heavy rains into overburdened city sewers, officials said.

Homeowners with existing concrete lawns are exempt from the rule, but may still find themselves in trouble with city Department of Buildings (DOB) inspectors, who could cite them for making the change without a proper permit and required curb cut, DOB sources said.

Community Council Offers Scholarships

Officials at the 110th Precinct Community Council are urging high school seniors in the Elmhurst/Corona area to submit essays to the group's 2008 Scholarship initiative.

Interested high school seniors are asked to submit a 500-word essay offering their thoughts on crime prevention and quality of life improvement in the Elmhurst/Corona area, such as the formation of a graffiti cleanup group to target neighborhood eyesores in the 110th Precinct

Students entering the competition must be graduating seniors who live in the area and are planning to attend college this fall.

All essays must be submitted to Debra Pagano Cohen at St. John's Queens Hospital, 90-02 Queens Blvd., Elmhurst 11373. Entries must be postmarked by Monday, June 2 and should include the candidate's name, address and telephone number.

The group will award $500 scholarships to eight graduating high school seniors, who will be notified by June 9.

Winners will be presented with checks in a ceremony at the June 18 meeting of the 110th Precinct Community Council.

Funding for the scholarship was made possible by City Councilmember Helen Sears and the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

For more information, call 718-558- 0228.

Stronger Penalties For Traffic Cop Assaults

Motorists who vent their "ticket rage" on city traffic cops may now face up to seven years in prison for the assault.

Governor David Paterson last week signed a bill making assault on traffic cops a felony punishable by fines of up to $1,000 and up to seven years in jail.

"Double-parkers and others who park illegally on city streets may now want to rethink their situation before they get physical with traffic agents," law enforcement sources said. "No ticket is worth jail time."

NYPD 'Torch Teams' Headed Into Subways

Teams of rifle-toting cops began patrolling city subways on April 24, part of the NYPD anti-terror "Torch Team" initiative.

The teams include one sergeant, five officers and a bomb-sniffing dog. They will patrol in 12-hour shifts on trains and platforms throughout the subway system.

The cops, wearing body armor and toting rifles and MP5 .9-mm submachine guns, are part of a system of heightened security designed to protect the city subway system, considered by many a target for terrorists.

The "Torch Teams" are funded by a $30 million grant, part of a two-year, $159 million regional transportation grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the teams are not intended to alarm straphangers about any present threat by terrorists to the city subway system.

High-ranking Police Department antiterror officials are "keenly aware" that terrorists are constantly eyeing the subways as possible targets for attack.

"It's no secret," police brass said. "The Torch Teams are trained and ready to thwart any possible sign of terrorist activity in the city subway system."